The moment Jimbo Fisher stepped off a plane and down a narrow, maroon carpet in College Station, Texas A&M showed it was willing to spend the necessary money to build a great football program.

The Aggies lured Fisher away from Florida State with a $75 million guaranteed contract, which is believed to be the richest deal ever given to a college football coach.

The spending didn't stop with Fisher.

According to A&M's annual NCAA financial report, the Aggies doled out $18.2 million in salaries, benefits and bonuses to its football coaches during the 2017-18 school year. In contrast, UT-San Antonio's athletic department reported $31.3 million in total operating expenses during the same period.

The total A&M spent on football coaches is nearly triple what the Aggies reported for the 2012-13 season, their first in the Southeastern Conference.

A&M's financial report, which was obtained through an open records request, showed an increase of $7.3 million in football coaching pay from the previous year. While $3 million of that amount that stems from a severance payment to former coach Kevin Sumlin, according to a source familiar with the matter, new football salaries account for the significant uptick.

On top of Fisher's $7.5 million annual salary, his 10 assistants earned a combined $6.8 million in base pay last year. Defensive coordinator Mike Elko is the highest paid assistant at $1.8 million. In the new staff's first season at A&M, the Aggies went 9-4 and finished ranked in the Associated Press poll for the first time since 2013.

Despite the new, expensive contracts, A&M reported $212.4 million in total operating revenue, a marginal increase from the previous year. Financial contributions for the football program exceeded $45 million, which helped offset the costs of hiring the new staff.

"We sell lots of tickets," A&M chancellor John Sharp said when Fisher was introduced as the Aggies' coach in Dec. 2017. "We have a big stadium to put them in. Our supporters and the 12th Man Foundation and all of that give us the resources necessary to have the absolute best people on the field, players and coaches."

The athletic department totaled $165.8 million in total operating expenses, an increase of $19.2 million from 2016-17. The excess revenue was used to help cover the costs of A&M's recently built softball stadium and new track and field complex. The Aggies spent $43.9 million on facilities, according to the NCAA filing.

In 2016-2017, A&M and Texas were the only two schools to report more than $200 million in total operating revenue, according to USA Today. Of the eight in-state public schools that played in the Football Subdivision, the Aggies and Longhorns were also the only ones not to use student fees or university funds in their athletic department.